Chinese Students' Goal Was to Study English

Two 16-Year-Olds Killed in San Francisco Plane Crash Were Among Large Student Contingent

By

James T. Areddy

Updated July 7, 2013 9:09 p.m. ET

SHANGHAI—The two 16-year-old Chinese girls killed in Saturday's airliner accident in San Francisco were planning to spend their summer holidays practicing English in California.

Students, bankers, technology workers and others from China represented almost half of the 291 passengers aboard Asiana Airlines Flight 214 from Seoul when it landed hard in San Francisco, skidded off the runway and eventually caught fire.